Sweet Candy
by xbladed-neko
Summary: John is a highschool student looking for his first job and Dave is a famous movie writer of SBHJ and will do anything and every thing to keep himself at the top. humanstuck pepsicola.


Your name is John Egbert. Your fifteen and you're a sophmore in high school. You've been looking for your first job for the past few weeks. Trying for interviews only to fail them. You had a really poor resume, and a notorious reputation for being late to school. Your dad said he was disappointed in you and took it upon himself to find you a job. You didn't want him too. You wanted to find your own job on your own time so you could have the pride in saying that was your profession. Your best friend- Dave Strider, was already making it high in life. Though he was much older than you- atleast 19- he'd found his road to success the hard way and you looked up to him. you looked up to him so highly.

Your friend used to right webcomics called sweet bro and hella jeff. You never really read them, you didn't like web comics. But apparently they attracted alot of attention and a movie was made out of his web comics- with Ben Stiller too! One of your most favorite actors of all time! He moved away from his old house next door to yours and you never see or talk to him much any more. He's become a big rich star and everyone loves him and knows who he is. While your stuck being the guy who used to be THE Dave Strider's best friend, struggling for his first EVER job and can't manage to catch a lick.

But yesterday was a good day for you! Your dad came through for you and got you a job! You never saw yourself turning towards journalism for your first job let alone photography but you wanted to make your dad proud of you again! You were gathering up your camera and attaching the shoulder strap as you were ready to head out to receive your first assignment as the photographer of the news paper. You felt like you were in the movie spider man staring as Peter Parker the young newspaper photographer!

As soon as you had your things ready you headed downstairs and met with your father who was giving you a ride to work. " Your lucky i found you this job son." he grumbles. " But I'm proud that your so motivated to arrive there early, son." " thanks dad! let's go!" you urge, running outside and hopping in the passenger seat of the car, admiring your camera that your boss had given you- it was the most expensive thing you'd ever held in your hands, it was atleast a 2000 dollar camera. you had to take good care of it or else neither your dad OR your boss will be happy with you!

Your dad eventually comes outside, fatherly disapproval on his face. Sheesh he is in a bad mood. You think as he gets in and starts the car. You stare out the window as the trees and white houses of your neighborhood turn into black pavements and lights of the city. As you pull out of the drive way you pass Dave's house and your heart throbs a bit. You missed hanging out with Dave- you missed hanging out with him alot. Ever since he became famous he never texts you any more- your pesterchum lay empty of his punctuate-less red text. You give a sigh.

Your dad pulls into the parking garage of a large building, every wall painted with windows and glass- it was a rather fancy looking building for your first job into high school. Your dad gives a sigh. " I'll pick you up later ok, son?" he sighs and you nod jumping out of the car. " ok! thanks for the ride Dad!" " your welcome, son." he pulls out of the car garage and disappears like a phantom into the traffic, leaving you standing there your career resting attached to a cloth strap resting in your hands as you looked around for the elevator that lead to the main building.

After a bit of walking and riding elevators, you make it too your bosses office, a grin on your face. " i'm here sir!" you say, demanding his attention away from his paper work. " oh it's you John Parker- the new photography boy." He stands smiling at you. "It's Egbert.." you correct, not sure if he was also making a spider man refference or honestly didn't know your last name. " I know i was making a joke but you obviously didn't get it." he waves a hand and turns to face the window, you frown- you should've laughed to show you had a good sense of humor. having a positive relationship with your boss is a good thing to have in your first job!

" so you wanted to give me my first assignment?" You question, your palms sweating with nerves and excitment, thankfully the camera had a strap or else you would've dropped it. He turns a grin flashing on his lips, he had super man style hair and a big chin, making him look like a character straight from a cheesy rom com when he grinned at you. " ah yes! your first mission young Egbart!" " Egbert." you correct under your breathe as his arm slings across your shoulders messing up your glasses.

He gestures to half the known universe with a wave of a hand as he babbles, when he starts saying something that means something to you, you look up at the side of his face through crooked lenses, blinking a few times. " young Egfert, i have an important mission for you. You see- lots of famous writers whose works were brodcasted to become movies have suddenly been murdered without explanation! You are going to investigate this by pretending to be a famous writer and seeing what happens to you!"

" wait you want me to get KILLED?" You wince away from under his arm dropping the camera which the neck strap caught with a bit of a snap, yearning silence in the large glass paneled room. " no no no no NO egfart." He rolls his eyes. " We won't let that happen, we just want you to get in as close beyond the lines. think of it as an initiation!" He says assuringly. You give up on correcting him and swallow. " o-ok, but how will i become so famous so quickly?" You ask trying to keep your voice steady.

He smiles walking over to his desk and throwing some paper work at you. " already got it under control! This novel was written by an unknown author and is widely famous across the country! It's called Sweet Candy." You blink- you had heard of that. You'd never read it but you heard it was popular with girls and such like things, you look from the paper work back to your boss as he keeps talking. " Sony Pictures wanted to make a movie for the novel- so the anonymous writer is likely to be targeted by this murderer! but this anonymous writer doesn't announce themselves until today!" " soo.. who wrote it?" You question, having a hard time seeing where he's going with this.

" You did! John Yegfort!"

" Egbert."

" Well- in truth- I wrote it. I wrote it just to attract the attention of the media. But now that i have it- i needed to hire a reporter to take credit for it and go in and get the information i need for a front page article on msn!"

" You want me to take credit for your hard work sir?"

" Making that book was nothing! just throw in a vampire and a girl who has candy insecurities and BAM a best seller!"

" Then why didn't you just do the investigation yourself sir?"

" because- kid. I'm too scared too. I'm the ceo of a big company here! I've gotta stay alive to keep making money you know what i'm saying? Don't take it to heart kiddo it's just business! I won't let anything bad happen to you i promise!"

He grabs a small device from off the desk and presses it in your hand. It looks like a blue-tooth device. " Put that in your ear and say 'Red' when ever something goes wrong and my guys will be in there in an instance and arrest the perp and we've got our story!" You look down at it and slowly put it in your ear. " but what if nothign happens sir?" " then make something up, Yegbart! You seem very good at that- trying to tell me your last name is Egbert. What kind of name is Egbert?" he rolls his eyes and turns towards the door.

He stops in the door frame and looks at you. " Don't let me down! Get me my story kid!" and he left.

* * *

You checked your phone and looked at , and ofcourse there the announcement was as promised, " Writer of best selling novel Sweet Candy finally announced!" You lean against a building, wearing a hoodie to hide your face so no one would swarm you, just a precaution. You flitted through the article.

" The writer of the best selling highly regarded New York Times award winning novel Sweet Candy has announced his true identity today. Hiding behind anonymous for so long he finally reveals his true identity! 15 year old high school student, John Egbert claims to be and has proven to be the true writer of Sweet Candy! giving permissions to Sony his romance fantasy will finally be turned into a movie! To be seen in theateres in 2017."

You shut off your phone and shove it in the pocket of your hoodie. Atleast the guy spelled your name right. You were some what scared now, what if you actually died? what if you got kidnapped? But you needed this information. This was your first assignment on your first job! You couldn't let this slip from your fingers or you'd NEVER get another job anywhere else! It's been two hours since the article was posted and nothings happened, your picture wasn't even on the article! So running around and buying a hoodie to hide your face was totally unnecessary.

You swallow back your fears and grow a pair like an old friend would've told you to do and let down your hoodie, you wince when wind blows your hair around but nothing happens. You let out a sigh of relief and tuck your phone in your pocket. Phew. that was close.

You fix your glasses and hold your camera as you glance around, continuing to walk down the street, taking pictures every now and then, trying to play the part of a tourist or something. It helped to try and fit in where possible. You thought about this job alot while you were buying this hoodie. You can think about ALOT of stuff over a course of five minutes believe it or not.

After a bit of walking you still experience no luck, you pass some suspicious faces but no one out of the ordinary, no one approaches you either. You stop and sit on one of the park benches, taking a small break and slipping up the sleeves of your hoodie exposing your forearms to the cool relaxing wind. You pull out your phone to see if there are any changes in the article when a group of teenage girls, a little older than you walked past you.

You could hear them saying something about sweet candy, so you listened to them, not looking up as not to look suspicious. You were the master of poker faces. You had to be to be a great prankster.

" Did you see that article on Msn?"

" omg yeah totally!"

" I can't believe a 15 year old boy wrote it! omg i want to MARRY him!~"

" did you see they posted a picture of him on there now?"

" what really?!"

" omg he's so CUTE."

wait.

what.

you freeze, immediately pulling your hood up over your head so you can't be recognized, you immediately turn on your phone and there it was, on the front of the article along side the cover of 'your' novel, was a picture of you. It was taken today too- it was you in your bosses office. How he managed to get that picture you'll never know, but now hiding your identity is going to be harder. Your boss is REALLY determined to get you kidnapped.

You look around as the girls pass you failing to hear anything else important they may say. Your heart beat racing as you shove your phone in your pocket standing up as your shaky hands fondle your camera. Forgetting it has a strap on it so you hold it tightly as not to let it fall from your hands and onto the concrete.

You walk away from the bench trying to get more ground, not making eye contact with any people around you, as not to draw attention to yourself. You notice a small crack on the side walk with a lady bug trapped in side. You stop your walking to save it, bending over when some one in to much of a hurry passes you their leg hitting your head throwing you back on your ass and your hood to fall off your head, revealing your face.

Your breathe hitches in your throat. No one seems to notice you. People just walk around you like a river flows around a rock. You swallow and grab your hood about to lift it back up, looking from side to side, before deciding that this- was stupid. You let go of your hood and give and exaggerated sigh. Are you forgetting your job, Egfart?

Egbert.

..egbert.

You still have an assignment. That hasn't gone away. Your SUPPOSED to get kidnapped. And plus you have your emergency blue tooth in case of emergencies so you should be fine. You just need to slow your breathes a bit, exhale and get up off the god damn side walk.

You let the hood fall on your shoulders as you keep a calm expression, you lean on a brick wall pretending to be a normal person, fiddling on your phone and just for the heck of it, looking at your pesterchum. None of your friends were online. Ofcourse not. You sigh and close your phone putting it back in your pocket, waiting for something. Anything. To happen at this point.

Seconds drag onto minutes, minutes drag onto hours, and you find yourself lostly wandering the sidewalk desperate for some one to confront you. No one has. Maybe this whole thing was a failure. A bust. You would get fired on your first assignment on the job. No one will every hire a peice of crap like you now. You wanted to say 'red' into the bluetooth just to end this now and get fired. You were so hungry and so tired. It was like- 5 o'clock and you hadn't found so much as a shit rock of evidence.

You stop and pull out your phone about to look at the time, when a huge gloved hand, snatched your cellular device, covers your eyes and another set of hands pulling your hands behind your back and hands over your mouth. You writhed trying to scream and get away when something hard and painful wacked you in the temple and your world went black

* * *

You woke up in an office. It wasn't like your boss's office. It was much more- fancy.. The floors were polished porcelain and the walls were bleach white. There were promotional posters for sbhj all over the place. sbhj 1. sbhj 2. sbhj 3.. all of them! You had a deep intake of breathe as you realized you were sitting on a sheet of wax paper. Oh._ no_.

You squeaked when you heard a door opening. Your entire body tensing. You didn't know what was going to happen now. You looked beside you and there were two tall dark skinned men in tuxedoes, giving you dirty looks. They looked like the type of people that would chew you up like bubble gum just because they were bored. You swallowed looking over at the direction of the open door, seeing a pair of converse and hearing erie slow footsteps

You eyes met a poker face and a pair of shades and you couldn't believe your eyes. It couldn't be true. You swallow as all the blood leaves your face and your too numb to move.

" John.." He says, his expression hidden behind mirror shades but you can see your reflection in them, sending a shiver through your entire frame.

Your too scared to speak, your hands are bound behind you so you cant save yourself from what's to come. You jump back a little bit as he steps closer to you.

" John I never saw you as a writer." He said blankly. "Especially not one good enough to pose as a competitor to Sweet Bro Hella Jeff."

You swallow. " I-I'm not a writer!" You say hastily. " This is just my job- my boss set me up-!" he interrupts you by walking over his shoe crushing your fingers. You yelp and clutch your hand. He glares down at you. " What happened to best bros for ever John?" he says a bit of cockyness playing in his tone, a smirk on his lips.

You didn't know what to say. Did he think you betrayed him, you open your mouth to speak but he grabs you by the shirt, lifting you up from the floor and onto your feet, your eyes meeting his. " Don't answer the question. It was rhetorical." He lets go of you and you stumble almost falling again but he catches you by the shoulder and stands you up straight.

" I've actually been wanting to see you again John. For a long time." He says calmly. You find yourself blushing and you don't know why. You bite your lip and clutch your camera which your suprised you still have. " But not like this." He shakes his head letting go of you and backing away as you felt the dark skinned men step closer to you. You practically lose it.

" Dave! Your not going to kill me are you?!" You shout panicking, your heart pounding out of your chest. He blinks staring at you for a moment in dead silence, before raising his hand cutting his guys off and approaching you. " John." He says, eerily close to you. Wierd. You dont remember him being this much taller than you, or this scary either. You swallow trying to meet his unwavering glare down on you.

"John I have to do what I have to do." He says calmly. "I can't have any one competing with my fame John. And your pretty high up. Sweet Bro Hella Jeff has to be the top of all popular media regardless of how many cool dogs I have to kill to keep it there." You tense. " But Dave! Your my best bro! I'm your best bro! We have been since we were seven can you just let it slide! I'm not even the author of the book anyways!" You panick.

He just stares at you. He takes off his shades. " John. People change. I dont have time for our friendship any more. I'm married to Rose now." He says calmly and you felt your heart sink. What?...

" Y-you are?" You question. He nods. " Yeah we have two little shits at home to take care of now and my place at the top keeps the food on the table. I don't want our previous friendship to ruin that John."

You found yourself crying. Why were you crying? Because you just lost your best bro? because you were going to die without saying good bye to Jade? Or your dad? Hell you dont even know any more. He sighs irritably at your tears wiping them away with his thumb causing you to tense. " I'm sorry John." He says softly, putting his shades back on. " This is they way it has to be."

He leans in softly and he kisses you. Your eyes go wide not expecting this at all. Your hands fumble nervously on your camera as you make an attemp to kiss him back. Accidently pushing the button and snapping a picture.

you are so fired.

* * *

He lets you go after that. When you returned back to your office, your boss was excited to find out about what you'd come up with. You told him what happened and he was stellar- so excited he only said your name wrong 3 times. But his smile left his face when you layed your only picture down on the desk.

a picture of yours and dave's shoes.


End file.
